Mojave Desert Land Trust

Mojave Desert Land Trust protects the unique living landscapes of the Mojave Desert.

The MISSION of the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is to protect the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its scenic and cultural resource values. Their vision of the Mojave Desert includes dark night skies, clean air and water, broad views and vistas, and an abundance of native plants and animals.

Why is it important?

MDLT protects land within the entire California portion of the eastern Mojave and Colorado deserts – 24.5 million acres in all. They focus on parcels within national parks and preserves, wilderness areas, areas of critical environmental concern, and wildlife linkage corridors. They have successfully conserved land in Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument, and Death Valley National Park. MDLT has donated more tracts of land to the national park system nationwide than any other non-profit since 2006.

The California deserts are home to over 2,000 species of native plants, comprising over 30 percent of California’s diverse flora. Many of these species are considered to be of conservation concern. In the Mojave Desert, unique flora is a critical part of a sensitive desert ecosystem, providing food and shelter for endangered wildlife and cleaning our air and water through soil stabilization and carbon sequestration.

How do they do it?

MDLT helps to protect southern California’s crucial desert ecosystems through various degrees of land conservation. With land acquisition MDLT is dedicated to enhancing recreation and tourism, ensuring access to the outdoors while preserving the desert and its cultural resources, expanding educational programs and submitting comments on important democratic issues that could impact public enjoyment of land and resources. With land stewardship, MDLT works to ensure that all acquired lands are properly maintained, protecting more than 80,000 acres and ongoing restoration of nearly 16,000 acres since its founding in 2006.

With their native plant restoration nursery and Mojave desert seed bank, MDLT strives to increase the availability of genetically appropriate plants while the seed bank is a repository of spores of native flora from the ecoregion.

How you can #TravelKindly:

Choose Mojave Desert Land Trust as your local charity when you book with Kind Traveler.

Get involved and invest a few hours with a number of volunteer opportunities including: land stewardship and desert salvage teams, assist a citizen science and education project, assist a native seed and plant project, join a community outreach team or assist a facilities upkeep team.